UTSW reports successful delivery of quintuplets

Three boys and two girls were born Thursday, Aug. 9, to missionaries Carrie and Gavin Jones at UT Southwestern Medical Center, among the first sets of quintuplets delivered nationally so far this year.

A specially trained multidisciplinary delivery team of more than 50 UTSW specialists, nurses, technicians, and therapists – including dedicated units for each infant – managed the successful births, delivered in less than five minutes.

"We praise God for His mercy and love in bringing these five new lives into ours," said Gavin and Carrie Jones. "The whole delivery went flawlessly from beginning to end. The doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, respiratory therapists, and everyone else on the UT Southwestern team were amazing."

The five infants – Will Edward, David Stephen, Marcie Jane, Seth Jared, and Grace Elise – are in stable condition in St. Paul University Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where they will remain for the next several months until they reach weight, post-birth age, and health markers.

Their weight at birth ranged from 1 lb. 12 oz. to 2 lbs. 11 oz.

"The infants are doing as expected for quintuplets born at 27 weeks," said Dr. Gary Burgess, medical director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, who is overseeing care for the five children.

The five babies were delivered in less than 5 minutes, between 10:01 and 10:05 a.m. Thursday. Within 13 minutes, information on the babies was added to the electronic medical records system for use by the team of health professionals.

Gavin Jones, 35, a helicopter pilot who along with Mrs. Jones and their 8-year-old son, Isaac, serve as missionaries in the South Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea, north of Australia, said he was grateful for the health of the babies and his wife.

"We have been blown away by the outpouring of prayers and support for us through this unexpected journey,'' Mr. Jones said.  "We are especially grateful to the team of professionals at UTSW who have gone beyond the call of duty in preparing for the babies and caring for Carrie.  They have been amazing!"

Dr. Patricia Santiago-Munoz, assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Maternal-Fetal Medicine, delivered the infants. She said the births went as expected, thanks to Mrs. Jones' strong spirit and months of coordination on the part of the medical team, which included a specially designated "CODE 5" alert when the time came.

"For all the anxiety that a quintuplet pregnancy generates, Carrie and Gavin are the perfect couple to have held it together," said Dr. Santiago-Munoz, who had helped with the delivery of two sets of quintuplets before coming to UT Southwestern. "A birth like this takes a village."

In the months before the delivery, UT Southwestern medical teams planned every detail, handing out special CODE 5 pagers to notify the teams and developing a color-coded system to match each baby with its needed supplies.

Weekly drills were held and early efforts made to ensure duplicate equipment and back-up systems were ready.

In addition to the specialists caring for Mrs. Jones, each baby is assigned its own team. The teams caring for the babies around the clock include a neonatologist, neonatal nurse practitioners, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, and radiology technicians.

UT Southwestern's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is one of the largest in the United States, training about one of every 50 Ob/Gyn residents in the United States at UTSW's University Hospitals and at Parkland Memorial Hospital. The department has more than 100 faculty members and includes authors of several of the leading textbooks in the field: Williams Obstetrics, Williams Gynecology, and Essential Reproductive Medicine.

The rare quintuplet births are the first delivered at St. Paul Hospital and the third quintuplet delivery by specialists in the Ob/Gyn Department at UT Southwestern.

Over the past 37 years, quintuplets have been born twice at Parkland Memorial Hospital: in 1975 when a Lewisville woman gave birth to quintuplets, and more than two decades later in 1998 when the Zuniga quintuplets of Arlington were born.

On average, only about 12 sets of quintuplets are born each year in the United States. In 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 16 sets of quintuplets.

The Jones family invites those interested to follow their progress on their family blog at gavincarrie.blogspot.com.